Practical aspects of occupational risk assessment from industrial noise exposure

Abstract

Introduction. Today, there is an active application of the occupational risk assessment approach in hygiene practice. In particular, the employer is required to assess the risk of exceeding the production noise limit.

The aim of study is to identify issues related to the performance of work on the assessment of occupational risk from noise exposure, based on practical experience.

Materials and methods. The assessment of the probability of adverse effects on the health of specific individuals employed in more than a thousand jobs in various branches of Russian industry allows us to identify a number of practical problems.

Results. The main problem is the lack of information about the levels of impacting noise that is suitable for constructing subsequent stages of research. One option is the absence of annual monitoring of noise with possible variability in the level of exposure in dynamics. Also, when performing control, there is the use of measuring instruments that do not meet the requirements for ensuring the uniformity of measurements. Often, we are faced with the lack of a fixed identification of workplaces that allows us to track the levels of impacting noise in dynamics. The priority was to support the risk assessment work by conducting control measurements of noise levels with the priority use of personal noise meters to minimize the contribution of uncertainties.

Conclusions. The analysis of international experience shows the need to introduce new approaches to monitoring noise levels and the implemented effects of its impact on the part of the hearing organ, including monitoring the accumulated doses, the introduction of a" noise professional route", mandatory audiometry when hiring and annual monitoring of the dynamics of hearing changes; evaluating the effectiveness of the used personal hearing protection equipment (PHPE) in real production conditions.